“It was a great shame because we had put a huge effort into the promotion but we were a victim of our own success,” said Mr Woodhouse, who used to live in Diss for 11 years.

The cancellation caused book sales to go up by 350 copies, with sell-outs at as WH Smith and Waterstones across the UK.

So far, Mr Woodhouse has sold thousands of books since the launch on April 4 and his success has now also attracted the interest of various national newspapers, such as The Sunday Times, for which he was interviewed on Wednesday.